The Panama Papers Taught us That Vigilante Justice is all we Have

In a world that exists in the shadows, transparency is neither a privilege nor a right

Source: Clay Banks on Unsplash.

Mossack Fonseca notified its clients on April 1, 2016, that their e-mail had been hacked. Immediately after, the law firm told news sources that it had always operated within the parameters of the law.

Edward Snowden dubbed this the “biggest leak in the history of data journalism.”

Formally, people understand this event as the Panama Papers.

The anonymous person in charge of hacking and leaking these documents sent them to a German journalist who published the story. The anonymous hacker cited income inequality as his — or her — motivation.

Around 107 media organizations across 80 countries analyzed the documents in this leak.

There were 11.5 million documents leaked in total, detailing financial activity across a quarter million offshore entities. 250,000. There were documents dating back to the 1970s.

Fraud, tax evasion, evading international sanctions. Anything for these people to keep their money away from lawful eyes and taxation policy. Money that would otherwise go to public resources for the majority of people. This law firm was…